


Answers in the Dark

by MusicLover6661



Category: Captain America (1944), Captain America (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Brutal Murder, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Death, Detective Bucky Barnes, F/M, Gore, Murder, Original Character Death(s), POV Bucky Barnes, Protective Bucky Barnes, Threats of Violence, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 05:53:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17502860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicLover6661/pseuds/MusicLover6661
Summary: “Buck, you might wanna come look at this.” Steve’s voice echoed from the kitchen, sounding almost unnerved.





	Answers in the Dark

[Originally posted by whitewolfbucky](https://tmblr.co/Z07D5n2eqwHkT)

The trail was cold, there was nothing else we could do except look over the clues that were left at the other crime scenes.  If there were ever any.  I couldn’t count the amount of times we were led on a wild goose chase only to come up empty every single time.  The killer was so meticulous about what they did, making sure they left nothing behind.  Blood was cleaned from the scene, the murder weapon always hidden.  My partner Sam was on his wits end, angry that the killer had slipped through our fingers once again.

“We scoured the house, there was nothing left behind.” Sam plopped down the thick manilla folder, sighing

“Whoever this is knows what they’re doing, it’s like they’ve trained for something like this.” I frowned, pulling the photos that were taken at the scene.

The woman’s body had been mangled, torn apart and pieced back together like a ragdoll that had been abused for too long.  She was placed almost delicately against the bed, as if the murderer wanted her to rest peacefully.

“This is the fifth case we’ve gotten in the last two years, if we don’t catch him who knows how many more people he’ll end up killing.” After the first case we spent months looking for the killer, only for him to strike again and kill three more women.

They had been close friends, all of them having grown up together, only to meet their demise before they could even graduate college.  Did they know they were all friends?  Is that why he had killed them all together?

“All the women he’s attacked have been mid 20’s, brunette or blonde, small and petite, and mostly from Brooklyn.” I set the photograph down, sighing softly to myself.

“So he has a type, that much we know already.  The only thing we can do is keep a closer eye on the college campuses, and any places that he could possibly frequent.” Sam had a good point, he was looking for specific women to attack, ones that couldn’t fight back.

That meant the gym would be off limits, most of the women that frequented it were there to become bodybuilders, they could rival the strongest of men in the city.  He needed someone weak enough that would comply to his demands, hoping they’d be free.

“Why does he paint their lips red after he kills them?  Is that his way of leaving his own personal mark?” Sam lined up multiple pictures, glancing between the top three.

“Maybe the guys got a fetish or something.” It seemed too obvious, he wanted us to know he was toying with us.

The door to the precinct slammed open, Steve came stumbling inside, struggling to hold his briefcase and jacket.

“Sorry!  Traffic was an absolute bitch, could barely move a mile for close to a half hour.” Steve set down his things on his desk, running a hand through his messy blonde hair.

“Where the hell were you this morning when we had a case?” I turned to glare at the other man, more annoyed that he was only coming in now than anything.

“No one notified me that there was a case, you know I’d of been there.” Steve was always on top of the homicide cases, checking for the smallest details we may have missed before.

I sighed and shook my head, of course no one had bothered to call him, they always assumed he already knew something was going on.  It was mostly the newbies that failed to notify us, claiming they didn’t know what they were supposed to do.  The chief was always on them to call in backup constantly, but they claimed they knew better.

“What do we have this time?” Steve stepped over, taking the written statement from the pile that sat on my desk.

“Rachael Goodson, aged 27, she was heading back home after seeing a friend when she was taken, they reported her missing this morning after she didn’t reply to any of their messages.  Body was found by the river, she was wrapped in a white sheet, but there was no blood.” I grimaced, this was becoming more complicated than i was hoping for.

Steve looked through the photos, depicting what he could from the evidence we were able to gather from the scene and body.  With little to go on with, there wasn’t much we could do except for perform an autopsy and see if the coroner could find anything.  Most of the time they were drugged, it was never anything special to give us a lead.  

“He tied her wrists together this time, he hasn’t been doing that.” Steve set down the photo, pointing to where her wrists had bruised.

“Maybe she tried to fight back, get to safety.” Most of his victims were too drugged up to do much of anything as he had his way with their bodies.  The sick fuck.

“Guys, someone caught something on a surveillance camera outside of a little shop.” Sam pulled up the video, speeding through until our victim popped up on the screen.

She was laughing at something on her phone as a masked figure came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her neck to cut off her screams.  Her body became limp after a few seconds, giving him ample opportunity to drag her to his car.  

“Stop!” I threw my hand up, the license plates letters and numbers were partially blurry, but we were able to write them down easily.

Sam typed it in, looking up the car and license plate.

“It’s registered to a Anthony Stark, his most recent address is located about a mile away from that corner store.” Sam smiled triumphantly, this was looking exceptional for us.  
“Let’s get a warrant and go check this guy out for ourselves.” This was about to get interesting for us.

The outside of his house was immaculate, nothing was out of place.  Well save for the peeling paint and broken porch.  The exact car we were looking for sat in the driveway, sitting idly as we walked up to the front door.  Sam had his gun hidden in his holster, unsure of how the gentleman was going to react.

Steve stepped up first, clutching the warrant in his hand as he banged his fist roughly against the door.  The man inside grumbled angrily before stomping over to the door, pulling it open with a loud sigh.

“Can i help you?” He looked disheveled, hair messy, beard graying as he took us in slowly.

“We have a warrant to search your premises.” Steve didn’t wait for an answer, stepping inside to survey everything.

The house was filthy inside, bottles of vodka and scotch littered the floor.  It seemed like this man didn’t get out very often, and when he did it was to go to the liquor store.  It didn’t explain why his car was seen at the scene of a crime.

“Buck, you might wanna come look at this.” Steve’s voice echoed from the kitchen, sounding almost unnerved.

I stepped around Sam and headed to where Steve was, he was holding a bloody chef’s knife.  The blade looked nearly brown from how much the blood had oxidized, the sick fuck kept something like that around?  
  
“Put it in a bag and take it to the station to be tested, I’m gonna see if there’s anymore evidence.” Steve nodded, placing the knife into an evidence bag and sealing it up.

Sam was interrogating the gentleman, trying to get answers from him while Steve and I searched the rest of the house.  

A woman’s blouse was tucked beneath the mattress, the same one Rachael had been wearing when she was taken.  So, he liked the keep souvenirs of his murders?  What kind of sick monster does that to people?

“Guys, there’s blood in the car.” I couldn’t believe what i was hearing, this was all too good to be true.

Sam took him down to the station to be questioned, leaving Steve and I to call up a team to help collect evidence and search for anything we might have missed.

“Didn’t think we’d be able to actually find the guy after so long, feels unreal.” I sipped my coffee, nearly hissing from how scalding it was.

“Can only hide for so long, let’s be honest.” Steve smirked, biting into his sandwich.

Tony, as he asked to be called, had complied until we began to ask him about the murders.  Claiming he had nothing to do with them.  The evidence all pointed right back to him, there was nothing he could say to convince us otherwise.  The blood tested from the knife came back to match our latest victim, his prints were all over the handle.

“I’m still surprised the camera picked up that plate, it was so blurry.” I tried not to be skeptical, to doubt everything we had just obtained.

“We just happened to get lucky is all, nothing to worry about Buck.” Steve was quieter than usual, finishing off his sandwich before I could ask anymore questions.

The precinct was all but silent as we finished our lunches, though i doubt anyone would really call my coffee lunch.  

“Excuse me, are you James?” A woman stepped over to where Steve and I were sat.

“Yes i am, can i ask who you are?” I wiped my hands off quickly, standing up to greet the newcomer.

“My name is Margaret Carter, I’m Mr. Starks caretaker.” Shit, this wasn’t something i expected to deal with today.

“Tony’s currently in one of our holding cells.” This seemed a too suspicious to be real.

“I was informed he was arrested under false pretenses, he was at a charity event during the date and time of the murders, if you doubt me i have no problem getting other witnesses to account for my words.” We were so close!  And now it was all beginning to slip through our fingers once again.

Tony was released after three in the afternoon, Margaret took his arm and led him out to her waiting car.  Steve looked more annoyed than anything, arms crossed over his chest as he watched the scene unfold.  What could we do?  His alibi was spot on, there was no way he was the murderer.

“It doesn’t explain how her clothes were there, all of the evidence lead to him being the killer and now it’s gone to waste.” Sam was looking through old case files, looking for anything we might have missed.

It was nearly midnight before Sam and Steve decided to call it quits, saying they would work better on a clear mind.  Unfortunately that wasn’t going to be the case for myself, it was driving me absolutely insane.  I was considered one of the best homicide detectives, able to solve any case with the utmost ease.  But this one, this was a case that had been haunting me since day one.

“C’mon Buck, it’s getting late.  I’m sure Y/N’s up waiting for you right now.” Shit, my wife was probably worried sick about me right now.  
“I’m going, i just gotta look over these photos one last time.” I rubbed my eyes roughly, groaning as my vision blurred slightly.

“Let’s go.” Sam stepped over and turned off the screen, effectively cutting off the evidence i had been staring at before.

I wanted to yell at him, to turn the screen back on so i could figure out where we had gone wrong, but it was useless.  He’d call up Y/N and have her drag me from the office by my jacket collar, it had happened more than once.  

Sam waved as he got into his car, heading home to see his wife and daughter, god i couldn’t wait until we found the sick fuck and put him behind bars.  No more sitting up until two in the morning staring at papers that didn’t make sense anymore.  Maybe that’s what our problem was, we were searching for something that was in plain sight.  It’d have to wait until tomorrow, when we could all focus on it.

Y/N was sitting up watching tv when i finally made it home, a blanket wrapped around her body as she yawned.

“Sorry I’m late.” I stepped closer and kissed her cheek, smiling as she pressed closer to me.

“Don’t apologize babe, i just wanted to make sure you came home alright.” Her hands pressed against my cheek, giggling as she rubbed her fingers along my beard.

“I’m always gonna come home to you.” I turned my head, pressing a soft kiss to her palm.

“You better Mr. Barnes, or else there’s gonna be hell to pay.” Her eyes were shimmering with an underlying playfulness.  

She always loved to tease, and i couldn’t help but pull her closer.  It didn’t matter if i needed to sleep, i needed to show Y/N how much i loved and appreciated her.

The sheets were still warm when i got up for work, my phone buzzing by the side of my bed, there was a new case waiting.  I pressed a kiss to Y/N’s cheek and slipped out of the house, heading down to the scene immediately.

There were police everywhere, keeping the crowd that had gathered away from the scene as well as they could.  Sam was already there, waiting for me to join him before he stepped into the apartment.  Blood was everywhere, almost purposefully done.

“Dorothy Evans, your ex.” Jesus, what the hell was going on?

“Are you serious?  Any motive as to why she was attacked?” I stepped into the living room, covering my mouth to keep the bile that rose into my throat down.

Her body was mangled, skin torn, fingers and toes were missing.  Part of her jaw had become unhinged, she was nearly unrecognizable from how disfigured she was.

“The only thing they were able to find was this.” Sam handed me what looked be a polaroid, it was Dorothy before she was murdered.

Her cheeks were stained with tears, mouth open in what could only be a scream, only no one had heard her until this morning, when her life was stripped away.

 ** _Be on the lookout Bucky boy, he’s closer than you think._**  
  
Jesus, the sick fuck knew her because of me.  And now she was gone, torn from the world for someone’s sick pleasure.  The message was so cryptic, what did it even mean?

“He’s closer than you think, what the hell do they mean?” I looked over to Sam, hoping he would have the answers i was so desperate to find.

“Maybe someone we know, someone that’s been in the system before.” That seemed so highly unlikely, it’d be too easy for them to be found.

Her body was taken to the morgue for further analyzation.  To check and see if they could find anything on her body we might have missed.  Sam was at his desk, looking over the reports from neighbors and anyone who might’ve been close to her before the attack.  No one had heard anything until her scream at approximately five thirty six.    
  
“You’re gonna wanna hear this.” Sam slid his chair over to my desk, setting down his phone and letting the voicemail play.

  
 ** _“I just finished the autopsy, and there’s no way your victim was alive after one in the morning, so whoever let out that scream was your killer.”_**  
  
Holy shit, this was huge, the complex had cameras, surely they would’ve caught something useful enough for us to use.

“Where’s Rogers?  He was supposed to be here almost two hours ago.” I glanced over to his desk, brow furrowing as i realized he was late, again.   
“I called him at the scene, he didn’t pick up.” I glanced down at the polaroid found at the scene, inspecting it closer.

There was a person standing in the background, the only thing visible were their legs and shoes.  Ones i had seen almost every single day of the week.

“Someone find Rogers,  ** _now!_** ” How could he have slipped through our fingers so easily?  The signs were all there.

Sam jumped up from his chair, radioing every dispatch that was nearby, having them be on the lookout for Steve.  He wasn’t working alone though, who could possibly help him hide all of these murders without raising any suspicion?

“Rogers has been taken into custody, along with Margaret Carter, they’re being taken down to the precinct now.” It had taken nearly two days for them to be found, clearly trying to run before they were caught.

Steve was stone faced inside the interrogation room, hands clasped together in his lap as Sam and I walked into the room.

“Why’d you do it?  What did these women ever do to you?” There were more questions on my mind, some i was afraid to get an answer to.  
“I think it’s pretty obvious, i left the clues at the crime scenes for you to find.” I furrowed my brow, what the hell did that even mean?

“You murdered women in cold blood Rogers, what kind of person does that?” Sam was ready to tear him apart, to have him feel the pain those women felt in their final moments.

Steve smirked to himself, sitting back in the seat with a quiet laugh.  It didn’t matter anymore, we had all the evidence we needed to finally put him away.

 ** _2 Years Later_**  
  
The precinct had quieted down for the most part after Steve and Margaret were put away, the jury took less than five minutes to sentence them to death.  It was one of the happiest days of my life watching the smile slip from Steve’s face, to realize what was going to happen.  He wouldn’t be able to hide in jail for very long.

“I say it’s time we celebrated.” Y/N plopped down beside me, running a hand through my hair gently.

“And what exactly are we celebrating doll?” I turned my head to face her, smiling as she wrinkled her nose.

“We’re celebrating you closing another case, and being the best husband i could ever ask for.” Y/N pressed her lips softly against my own, giggling as her belly pressed against my stomach.

I shook my head and placed a gentle hand against the lower part of her belly, rubbing small gentle circles to help her relax.  She was nearly putty in my hands within a few seconds, sighing softly as she rested against my side.

These were the only people that mattered, and i wasn’t going to lose that any time soon.


End file.
